


Just Like Magic

by Ac1c



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, magic tattoos, mentions of character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 21:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3148547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ac1c/pseuds/Ac1c
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Until he had brought it up, Stiles hadn’t been sure what it was, but there, stuck in his own head with nowhere to go and no choice but to listen, he finally understood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like Magic

To be honest, it surprised him he’d made it this far. With Beacon Hills being… well, Beacon Hills, Stiles knew every day could be his last. Every new supernatural creature they had to battle, every death he had to witness, they all weighed down on him like little rocks, piling up until they couldn’t go any higher, and then somehow finding a way to pile up some more.

It hadn’t started with the dead body in the woods, not really. No, it had started years earlier, with his mother’s death. He’d been there by her side when she’d taken her last breath, unlike his father who couldn’t accept the reality, couldn’t face the fact that his wife would die and there was no way he could prevent it from happening. After the initial denial had faded away, the grief, anger and sadness had crashed down on him like waves, almost drowning him. He had managed though, found a way to deal with the heavy rock on his chest. Found a way to go on with his life.

He’d been doing pretty well, until Beacon Hills became a gathering place for things out to kill him and the people he loved. Erica and Boyd’s rocks hadn’t been as big as his mother’s, hadn’t made such a big impact, but they were still there, slowly pushing him under again. Then came Allison’s, Aiden’s, the ones from the people at the hospital and the station,.. and the list went on and on. The Nogitsune hadn’t failed to notice, not that he had expected the bastard not to. Until he had brought it up, Stiles hadn’t been sure what it was, but there, stuck in his own head with nowhere to go and no choice but to listen, he finally understood.

He understood, and he found a way to manage, just like he had done so many years ago. Magic had always been a thing he didn’t fully understand, but then again, he didn’t think anyone really did. After all, who could explain the unexplainable? It had only taken a little research and help from Deaton, making it easier than he had expected it would.

The first tattoo wasn’t big, right in the center of his chest, where the pain of his mother’s death had weighed down on him for so long. It was a delicate thing, with curved lines that made a pattern he would never tire of looking at. Next came a few on his arms, representing the people close to him who bad gone before their time. With every new tattoo, he could feel the pain and pressure inside of him slowly lessening, the magic of the ink and design taking the weight away one little rock at a time, until there was no way he could hide them beneath his clothes anymore, and he felt lighter than he had in years. It hurt like a bitch, but he didn’t mind. He wanted it to hurt, wanted the weight to be replaced by a temporary pain, reminding him why he was doing this.

His dad didn’t understand at first, but he would learn to with time. Stiles didn’t know how many deaths were still to come, whether his own was closer than he thought or if he would live to die as an old man, covered in tattoos until there was no skin left to cover with ink, but there was one thing he knew for sure. He had found a way to manage, and he always would.


End file.
